Horse with possible tendon or ligament trouble

[Hannah Steele]

Any ideas for helping out a horse with tendon or ligament
problems in the forelegs ?

My daughter's favorite horse (at a small riding stable we go to for lessons) has been side-lined for the past few weeks. While the vet has told the owner/riding instructor to let her rest & she's done that, plus polticing the legs, it doesn't seem as though there has been much improvement thus far. While this horse is used regularly for lessons, she isn't worked overly hard, and is very well cared for, so any help
would be wonderful.

 

[WilliamGreenn]

Hi, I'm sure you have tried massage and energywork on it, correct? (injured horses really respond to both) if not, give it a go. There is also chiropractors for horses out there.

Not sure if you know about this site, but I can highly recommend it's products to my clients.
equilite.com

 

[oxprettyinpunkx]

Has any equine bodywork previously been applied with this horse that you know of?

 

[devilman bravo]

Hi Kindred,
I was hoping you'd be chiming in. No equine bodywork
has been done to date. I'm not trained on working with
horses either. Strictly on an intuitive level, I feel
as though she may be pulled foreward slightly causing the
front legs to carry more weight than they should. She is a former racehorse as well, though the currant owner is only using her for lessons and horse shows. All the horses she has are extremely well loved & well treated, so no one is overworked. She had wanted to use her for jumping as well, but now feels that would definitely be to much stress to put on her.

As long as the owner wouldn't have a problem with it, & is willing to be alongside, I'd be happy to work a bit with her,
if there is something simple you could recommend until we can find someone who is trained to work with horses.

 

[TerraL]

I have faith in your abilities.

It's really hard for me to give any kind of feedback because "ligament/tendon issues" is so broad of a descsription. I need to get my hands on that horse to really be of any help, lol.

Use the same kind of insight for the horse as you would use on a human body. Pick up a couple equine anatomy charts.

Just like with humans, tendon and ligament issues can take months upon months for marked improvement under the best of healing circumstances. And, if the horse keeps doing whatever activity she's doing that caused the injury, the problem will perpetuate and cause more compensating movements, posturing, and muscle/skeletal imbalance.

Race horses seem to end up with stifle issues. You mention that she appears to be bearing more weight on her forelegs...so, she may be compensating in her neck/shoulders and front legs, for a problem with the hind.

I like to use full hand friction on the lower legs and leg joints, as they are all pretty much bone, ligaments, and tendons. Another idea is for her to take a really good joint supplement...I've seen that help greatly.

Helpful info? ...I dunno, lol.

 

[Pompal 09.]

I saw the horse & owner tonight. It is apparently, the suspensary ligament on both forelegs that is the problem. I had already suspected that there could be some issue in the hind quarters which could have been forcing more weight to the front end. When I mentioned it to the owner she said that her mare is built with more of a downward slope, with more height to the hind quarters.

The vet told her the problem iss due to the impact of working on hard ground. We haven't had rain here in quite awhile, so the ground has been incredibly dry everywhere.

I'll try working on the problem,but would only do so with the owner next to the horse, while I see what I can accomplish. This horse is generally a bit skittish about having her legs handled, so we'll see how it goes !

If you can recommend a good joint supplement, please let me know what to suggest & I'll pass it on. Thank you for your helpful suggestions, its really appreciated !

 

[Morgan Babes :P]

Having trained race horses, the suspensory ligament issue is a HUGE issue for the physical soundness of the horse. It is actually a more severe injury, according to the raceway vets I used, than a bowed tendon or a strain. The ligament needs to really rest, really heal without much work [read that schooling, or use] other than hand walking to give it time to settle down and heal properly.

Check for a book on equine anatomy, if you don't already have one and look at the job the ligament is required to do. Use your energywork to enhance the healing already trying to start up in the area. If the horse won't permit it directly, then try doing it indirectly.

You mentioned that the owner is poulticing the leg....... is she using a mud-like poultice? If so, that might really help to draw out the inflammatory heat that sets in with that type of injury.

Way back in the day, we trained a colt for an owner who expectted him to pace in a high priced NY states colt stakes within 2 weeks of his having blown his R suspensory ligament. When the vet told him the colt would be lucky to race in 6 months with constant care and a decent layoff, the man pretty well came unglued about the vast amount of $$$$$ he had laid out in stakes payments, etc. BUT ---- the vet gave him the option to race him in 2 weeks and lame him up forever, or, do the layoff and have a colt that would still be able to race and hopefully win back some $$$$. Thankfully, the owner chose option B and the colt went on to win $185,000 in a short 4 months when he returned to the track.

Best suggestion is to take a lot of time with this horse and really gently bring it along slowly back to health. It will make the healing more strong, and more enduring..... at least that's the way it worked for me.

 

[Anthony]

Thankyou Anastasia for the reply, I don't think the owner has used a mud poultice as yet. She has been icing down
the area for awhile as well as whatever type of poultice has
been used thus far. I've already been working on the energy work, indirectly so far. The horse has definitely felt the work when I start, as she reacts a bit skittishly each time she feels it begin. But she also looks sideways at me, and comes back over for more. Its been an interesting process on my end of it, just observing the "dance".

I believe the horse (named Tess) has been off-line now for
at least 5 or 6 weeks. Everytime the vet sees her, the
recommendation has been wait another 2 weeks and see how she's doing. He wants to see her not react to having
the foreleg tendon handled, which is a tough call for the owner as Tess has always been nervous about having her legs worked on. The owner has had her for 5 years or more
so she knows her horse well & lavishes her with lots of TLC.
She also trained for awhile to become vet, and has spent her life around horses, so she knows well that this is going to take its time to heal.

As ligaments & tendons can take more time to heal than a bone break, we are all aware that this injury is going to take its course to heal. My thought was that if massage, energy work, or possibly acupuncture could assist than I would see what info I could pass along to the owner, as it's up to her to decide the best course to take.

If any of you know of supplements which could aid the healing process please let me know. Thank you all again for your suggestions, I'm relying them all as we go !

 

[uber]

If you can recommend a good joint supplement, please let me know what to suggest & I'll pass it on. Thank you for your helpful suggestions, its really appreciated !

You're welcome!

Sounds like your doing some awesome work already, whoohoo! ...would love to hear more as you go, too.

One supplement is Cosequin (link for more info).

Another great one for soft tissue is MSM/methylsulfonylmethane. MSM (link 1) and MSM (link 2)

He wants to see her not react to having the foreleg tendon handled, which is a tough call for the owner as Tess has always been nervous about having her legs worked on.

Have you tried doing any hands-off energy work on her legs? This might be one way of helping her ease into her legs being handled.

 

[karissa]

I've been doing energy work in person when I'm at the stable as well as distance work. (Using Jin Shin Jyutsu,
Reiki, & a general use "healing fog" as I like to call it !)

I start out with the Jin Shin Jyutsu points for horses, beginning with the centering moves:
Holding at the top of the withers & at the top of the sternum. This aids in establishing a connection, and starts the dialog with the animal. It's also helpful in many other ways as well, including letting go of abuse & neglect (which in Tess's case would be old history, prior to the currant owner). This can be used for any of our four-legged friends of course.

I will be checking with the owner to see if she is comfortable with me going in the stall myself to work with Tess, unless she is responding with a great deal of skittish behavior it should be an option. If she will relax then I may be able to accomplish getting the energetic flow moving through the lower forelegs and clear out the pain/energy blockage, so the healing can progress more quickly.

Jin Shin has been said to help cut the healing time of a fracture in half, so its worth a try !

 

[Dianne F]

for whatever it is worth...........

........... way back in the day, the vet we used when we raced at a thoroughbred/standardbred track in northern Kentucky told me the easiest way to get a "skittery" horse to settle in and let you near it is to treat it like another horse would when introducing itself as a friend......... snort into its nostrils .......go "prwhwooot" blowing air out of your mouth into or towards the horse's nostril........ OR, if you are really adventurous, exhale somewhat strongly through your nose into/toward the horse's nostril...............

Sounds crazier than all get out, but, with a couple of horses we raced it worked absolute wonders. They had the reputation for being "man-killers" that no one could handle, so, of course I did my thing and bless their hearts they followed me around like puppies...........

Anyway, just a thought

good luck with Tess!

 

[forgetful]

Sounds crazier than all get out...

Nope, it doesn't...and I LOVE that!! I read about doing that somewhere a while back and do it sometimes when I first meet a horse (not necessarily in regard to working with them) but many times horses do this very thing with me. What an initmate feeling let me tell you, when a horse has her/his gigantic nostril up covering and hovering over your nose, mouth, eye and lashes...inhaling and exhaling. One of the very best gifts of life to me...give me goosebumps just thinking about it, lol.

 

[Kim N]

: Anastasia B.

That doesn't sound any crazier than anything else I've heard of after all these years. I'll give it a try & see what
kind of reaction I get & let you know what happens !
I'm game if Tess is !